The Rules In Paradise (Playing By The Rules) (19 page)

             
"Let's go, you need to get right into bed. I'll be there in a moment. Be careful." I trotted down the hallway and fell into bed. I heard my bag spill, but I couldn't get up the nerve to care.

             
"Here, take these and drink this." Cole placed two asprins in my hand and then handed me the glass of water.

             
"Finish it." He warned. I begrudgingly drank the water.

             
"It's hot." I said as I started pulling at my shirt."

             
"Jesus Christ Olivia. You're like an infant. Come here." Cole maneuvered over me  and lifted off my shirt.

             
"Pants." I said, throwing myself back on the bed. I heard him curse as he unzipped my boots, pulling each one off followed by the zipper on my jeans.

             
"I had assumed this would be my reality under different circumstances tonight," he mumbled as he starting sliding them down my hips and legs. "There, you are temptingly undressed yet too intoxicated for me to feel right taking advantage of you. I need you to sleep this off Olivia."

             
I snuggled into my pillow and got comfortable. I felt the bed move as Cole got up. I immediately panicked.

             
"No! Stay. Don't leave me," I cried out. I heard him sigh and then felt his weight shift the bed again.

             
"You are lucky that I am utterly infatuated with you Olivia. Now sleep." I closed my eyes, feeling him next to me and within moments I was out.

Chapter 14

             
I felt my heartbeat in my head. Every pulse brought me closer and closer to tears. I tried to move but my head felt too heavy. I kept my eyes closed. The sound of the shower running could be heard over the pounding in my head. Why would my shower be running? Adrian had never used my shower before. I couldn't focus enough to get up and investigate. I heard the water shut off and minutes later the door opened. Suddenly I remembered being brought to bed, and that voice.

             
"Good morning sunshine. It's after ten in the morning. You should probably get up." His voice was much too loud.

             
"Shut up. Please." I heard him laugh.

             
"I can only imagine the pounding in your head. I was hoping you'd be up so I could take you to breakfast. How about you get up and we'll go out?" I finally opened my eyes a crack. The sky was kind of overcast, thankfully. My eyes opened a little bit more as I watched Cole walk around my room, and dig through his bag. His wet hair was slicked back, I was able to see bare chest and back. The best part was the towel that hung dangerously low. I suddenly didn't feel quite so bad.

             
"I'm happy you came," I said. My voice was hoarse and it hurt my head to talk.

             
"Me too. Another minute you would have been leaving with that bulky man." His tone did not make me feel warm and fuzzy.

             
"You're mad." I tried to ask it as a question, but it came out more as a statement.

             
"You put yourself in a dangerous position. You drank yourself into oblivion. Why?" He had unfortunately put on a shirt.

             
"Because I thought you weren't coming." I felt like an admonished child.

             
"So because you thought I wasn't coming into town you decided the best idea was to get drunk and see who else was out there?"

             
"No, it wasn't like that. He came and sat down to talk to me. I wouldn't have left with him."

             
"How do you know? You hardly even knew it was me taking you home."

             
"That's not true," I said in my defense. "I was upset to see Jason here and no sign of you. I got an e-mail from you that you'd call me tomorrow. Here I was finally home, and he shows up. Of course I was disappointed." He had pushed my buttons and I was beginning to get upset.

             
"Well I'm disappointed in how you dealt with it. You can find me down the street in the bar, chatting it up with some buxom blonde."

             
"That's not fair."

             
"It's not fair that my surprise for you was ruined by your own stupidity." His face was beginning to turn a pink shade, I could tell he was becoming increasingly angry.

             
"Stupidity? Indeed Cole. I'm stupid for being so upset that I had to watch my best friend swoon over the man she adores while the guy I care about is God knows where. That's stupidity alright. Remind me not to be hurt next time we have to leave each other." I got out of bed, making my walk seem as strong as I could. I felt slightly stupid storming out of the room in just my bra and underwear, but I didn't have a choice. I slammed the bathroom door behind me.

             
I immediately turned on the water and took off the few items of clothing I still had on. How dare he blame me for being upset that he wasn't here? I'd like to think he'd feel the same way if the roles were reversed. I had no interest in that guy. I didn't even know what I was saying to him. Actually, I was talking about Cole to him. I wasn't going anywhere and even if I was too drunk to notice, Adrian would have stopped me.

             
I let the water run over me even after I had washed my hair and body. I didn't want to spend however long he was here, fighting. I put my hair up in a towel and wrapped one around my body as well. Cole was sitting up in my bed, now fully dressed in jeans and a T-Shirt. I walked around my room, gathering my clothes without making eye contact. For all I knew, he didn't look up from his phone. I returned to the bathroom and dressed. When I came back out I had brushed my hair out and braided it back. I had on jeans and T-Shirt and immediately crawled into bed, putting my head on his chest.

             
"I'm sorry. I should have handled it better. I just had all of these 'what if's' running through my head. I didn't know what to think," I said.

             
"What if's like what?" He said as he rubbed my back softly.

             
"Like what if you could come back but didn't want to? Or you had decided you didn't want to see me again? Or what if you got what you wanted?" I felt sad at all of those thoughts.

             
"What do you mean I got what I had wanted?" He asked.

             
"That night on the boat. For a moment I thought maybe that's what you wanted." He didn't say anything for a few minutes. The longer the silence went on the more nervous I got.

             
"Olivia, I would not have put up with you for the whole week if I only wanted sex. I might be a man, but if that's what I was after, I would have looked elsewhere. I'm slightly hurt that that particular thought crossed your mind," he said.

             
"I know, I'm sorry. Just in the heat of the moment I thought the worst about you not being here. Now you're here though and I couldn't be happier."

             
"I am happy to be here, but I am quite angry at your behavior. You say I am the one who has to get his way, yet you threw a fit like a child when your expectations were not met." The more he talked the smaller I felt. I felt moderately justified in what I have done, but he was making me feel like an admonished child.

             
"Look, I was emotional. I was finally home and glad to be back. Then Jason shows up and he is a reminder of you. Then he and Adrian are all over each other and I have to go be a third wheel to their date. I already missed you when you left. This just made it worse." I didn't know how else I could explain it. I was hoping he would just drop it.

             
"Do you really think those things? Those things you were thinking 'what if?' about?" He tone was odd, almost hoarse.

             
"They crossed my mind, yes."

             
"That saddens me," he said.

             
"I'm sorry, thoughts just cropped up in my head and I imagined the worst case scenario."

             
"Yes, indeed. The worst case scenario about me. I have done many things in my life I am not proud of. I am not a liar, nor do I use people. I pride myself on the way that I do business and the way that I treat most people. I do not lie and I do not use people. I have never lied to you. I have never used you for sex, or anything else. I spent my time with you because you were intriguing, someone I felt a connection to. I did not spend countless hours dealing with your smart-ass mouth so that I could get laid. If I wanted to get laid I would have found a willing woman and spent my down time fucking her brains out. I'm sorry that you seem to distrust me though I have given you no cause." He sounded angry and spoke in a stern tone.

             
"I honestly didn't think you were capable of those things, I just thought in general terms. I didn't picture you only wanting sex or picture you lying. I just thought about you as any other guy."

             
"Is that what I am to you Olivia? Any other guy?" He asked.

             
"No, that's not what I'm saying. You know that's not what I meant." I felt like I was stumbling over every word I said.

             
"I don't understand. What you say and what you mean have never been two different things. That is part of what I enjoy about you. You tell me what is on your mind."

             
"What I mean is I was upset you weren't here, millions of bad things ran through my mind. I didn't believe any of them to be true, but they were irrational thoughts. I want you here. I am so happy that you are. I want to forget about all of this and go back to when we didn't fight."
             

             
"Well, there is a perk to fighting, you know," he said. His voice had changed completely. It was now low and gravelly.

             
"Which would be?" I asked.

             
"Make-up sex," he said, smiling wide.

             
He sat up and maneuvered me so I was laying down. He was on top of me in seconds kissing me deeply. Seconds later I felt his hands on my stomach, raisin my shirt. He bent and kissed the exposed skin of my stomach before he lifted my shirt over my head. His lips traveled from my stomach up to my chest and neck and finally back to my lips. I was pretty sure that every nerve in my body was at attention. I couldn't help but let my mind float back to that night on the boat.

             
As he kissed me I reached under his shirt and felt his hard back and chest. His skin was warm to the touch and I took this opportunity to tug at the bottom of his shirt until he sat up and lifted it off himself. He was the hottest thing in the universe. His eyes were light and intense. His chest and stomach were perfectly solid but not scarily so. His skin was soft and smelt like fresh shower and cologne.

             
He leaned back and rested on his heels as his hands crept to the top of my jeans. It was pure torture to watch and feel him unbutton the button and slowly slide down my zipper.

             
"Hey guys, we're going to lunch if you wan...Oh my gosh, I am so sorry." Adrian stopped mid-sentence and backed out of the room, slamming the door.

             
"We're going to lunch, do you want to come with us?" She called loudly through the door.

             
Cole smiled at me and shrugged. "I'm starved. Get dressed, would you? It's already past eleven for goodness sake," he said with amusement as he got off the bed and opened the door, shirtless and all.

             
"We would be absolutely love to join you. If you would give Olivia just a few moments to put some clothes on we'll be right out and ready to go." His tone was nothing short of amazingly charming. Adrian looked from him to me, still laying on the bed in my bra and unbuttoned jeans. I put my arms over my head in sheer mortification.

             
"Gr-reat, we'll wait in the living room," she stuttered, unsure how to take him.